Our Lord Suffered and Died for Us

Do any of us have any real comprehension of what it means when we say, "The Lord suffered and died for us?" Maybe those who have reflected deeply and often on the passion get a small glimmer. Mel Gibson certainly presented a graphic portrayal of it in his film, The Passion of the Christ. Pierre Barbet, a French surgeon who studied the shroud and wrote a book called Doctor at Calvary, reached the point he could no longer make the stations of the cross because of his understanding. But most of us look at the sanitized crucifixes over our altars and how much do they touch us?


The truth of Christ's suffering is bloody and awful. When I saw the photos of the sculpture by  Juan Manuel Miñarro based on the Shroud of Turin, I remembered all of Barbet's descriptions of Christ's wounds. Barbet offers a meditation on the passion as an appendix to his book. I usually read it on Good Friday between 12:00 and 3:00 to remind me of the great love God has for us -- that He sent His only Son to die a gruesome death, the death of a criminal, to save the REAL criminals -- US. Now Miñarro provides the illustrations to go with the words. They are a graphic reminder of the price Jesus paid for us. "By His stripes we are healed."